Deal fails to put taxpayers' interests first

Published: Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2013 1:15 a.m. CDT

By Doris Bork
Mount Carroll

As elected officials, the city council is responsible to Mount Carroll taxpayers. I am chairwoman of the solid waste committee (garbage). Bid requests were sent out. Moring Disposal was the low bidder. Dennis Pate said they bid low because they wanted the contract.

The contract was voted on and approved by full council to have the mayor sign the 3-year contract starting Jan. 1, 2013, to Dec. 31, 2016, with the right by mutual agreement to extend the contract or put it out for bid again. After the city's pickup, the city would save $10,442.40 over the 3-year contract.

The ink wasn't yet dry, and the mayor worked out a deal (without notifying the chair of solid waste) with Pate to increase the rate from $92,856 for years one, two and three, to $95,659.20 the fourth year, an increase of $2,803.20, and year five from $92,856 to $98,550, an increase of $5,694. That totals $8,497.20, including city Dumpsters, to the city of Mount Carroll. Who is the city? We, the taxpayers.

This new agreement was brought to the council from the finance committee, not solid waste. Evidently they were looking after Moring's interest, not the people's. Maybe people should ask questions.

One thing taken out of the old contract starting 2013 was Moring couldn't come back for increases in charges each year. They had come for an increase because fuel had gone up. When it went down, I asked Pate whether they were going to decrease their rates; the answer was no.

They came back for a raise because they were purchasing a new truck and would be using it in Mount Carroll. I remember seeing the new truck only a couple of times. The answer to that was, it didn't work well in Mount Carroll, but we were still helping to pay for it.